Road-cart



(110 Model.) J. B. GALLAN.

ROAD CART.

No. 262,736. Patented Aug. 15, 1882.

UNITE STATES PATENT Enron.

JAMES B. OALLAN, OF QUINCY, ILLINOIS.

ROAD-CART.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 262,736, dated August15, I882.

Application filed June 26, 1882.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES B. UALLAN, of Quincy, in the county of Adamsand State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement inRoad-Carts and I do hereby declare that the following is af'ull, clear,and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to a road-cart, and includes a construction bymeans of which the cart may be converted into a trotting-sulky.

The invention consists in the special construction of the springs, andalso in the construction and arrangement of the parts directly andindirectly connected therewith.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a perspective view, andFig. 2 a side elevation, of myimproved road-cart, the wheels in thelatter figure being removed. Fig. 3 represents a modification.

The wheels, shafts, and axle, as represented in these figures, are ofordinary construction, the shafts also being connected to the axle inthe usual manner.

The seat A rests directly upon springs a a, which springs are ofordinary material, and are bent approximately in the form of a circle,the upper ends being brought together and rigidly connected to the underpart of the seat. These springs are connected to and supported upon asecond set of springs,-b I), which are bent in the form shown in thedrawings. The lower ends of the springs are curved around underneath theaxle, and are brought up and suspended from the axle by means of anysuitable clips. The upper ends of the springs I) b are bent so as to fitthe forward side of the springs a a, extending up to a point not farbelow the seat, and the ends of the springs b b are attached to thesprings a a by clamps 0. These clamps are held by means of small bolts,which may be loosened, and the lower spring removed from the upper andfrom the axle, when the seat may be lowered until the upper springsrestldirectly upon the axle, to which they may be securely attached byclips of suitable construction.

In order to retain the seat in place and prevent it from surgingbackward, I provide braces d cl, which are flexibly connected to theseat, so that they may be hooked either into (No model.)

eyes or staples in the shafts or to the foot-board D. This foot-board issupported upon armsf f, rigidly fixed to the bottom of the seat, andextending forward to hold the board in suita ble position. I bolt thesearms to the seat in such a manner that they may be easily removedtherefrom when it is desirable to convert the cart into atrotting-sulky. This construction of the spring and other partsdescribed serves to nicely balance the seat, and the motion of the horsedoes not give anymotion to the person riding. The motion of the horse iscounteracted by means of the spring in the form of a half of the letterB, which spring (marked 70) hooksinto abuckle underneath the cross-bar,connecting the foot-rest to the cross-bar. I may make this spring in theform shown in Fig. 3. In this figure the spring is represented as madeof two pieces of steel, one running from the bow of the foot-rest andconnecting with the other, which is bolted to the crossbar and bent downso as to come one and a half inch from the cross-bar at the end, whereit connects with the other part of the spring. This construction issomewhat simpler.

The peculiar form of the springs b b and their suspension from the axlealso havea tendency to counteract the motion of the horse. This peculiarconstruction of the spring gives another advantage of great importancein this class of vehicles, that if thelower spring breaks the seat candrop only about four inches until it comes in contact with the axle, andas the seat is not thereby thrown backward a drop of that distance isnot dangerous. The braces described serve to prevent the seat from beingthrown-backward under any circumstances.

Having thus described my invention,whatI claim is 1. In a road-cart ortrotting-sulky, the combination of the springs a a and the springs b b,both constructed as described, and attached to the axle and the seat, asset forth.

2. The combination of the seat and axle, the springs or a, and thebraces 01 d, adapted to be attached either to the shaft or foot-board,substantially as described.

3. The combination of the seat, the axle, the springs a a and b b, thefoot-board, and the supporting-arms, substantially as described.

In testimony whercofl have signed my name to to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES B. UALLAN.

Witnesses:

EDMUND K. ALDRICH, HARRY W. HALE.

